During the global annual advocacy campaign, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, UN Women today announced the appointment of internationally renowned award-winning actor-playwright Danai Gurira as its Goodwill Ambassador.
As a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Gurira will lend her name and dedicate her support to putting a spotlight on gender equality and women’s rights, as well as bringing unheard women’s voices front and center.
“UN Women is delighted to welcome Danai Gurira in her new role as Goodwill Ambassador to support our work on gender equality. As a playwright, actor, and activist in pursuit of women’s empowerment and gender equality with her sharp human rights lens, she is uniquely qualified to communicate and inspire. She recognizes the challenges of intersectionality and will connect with the diversity of women living on the margins of society,” said Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“Her engagement with us will bring generations of girls greater belief in a positive future. As an influential role model in both her personal and professional life, and a voice for those who have not yet been heard, we look forward to her ability to drive action on gender equality in communities across the world,” she reiterated.
“We are at an urgent time, a time where our participation is crucial to ensure that all women and girls, no matter where they live, where they grow up or where they work, are in a world where their potential can be fully actualized; a world of true equality,” she added.
Introducing the newest Goodwill Ambassador on-stage at the Global Citizen Festival Mandela 100 in Johannesburg today, UN Women’s Executive Director highlighted the power of advocacy and the urgent need to get everyone involved in efforts to end violence against women and girls and to ensure gender equality and women’s empowerment reaches the most marginalized globally.
In South Africa, the Executive Director and Gurira will also engage with over 200 young women leaders at the African Leadership Academy, discussing their challenges and experiences within academia and the workforce, and in ending violence against women, as part of the ongoing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence global campaign. This year’s UN theme, “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”, seeks to broaden the global conversation and highlight the voices and activism of all survivors of violence and advocates around the world—many of whom are often missing from the media headlines and social media discussions.